Softball: Messler's walk-off hit lifts Bobcats past Clippers

Thursday

May 15, 2014 at 2:00 AM

DURHAM — It was a big spot and Sara Messler did what she'd been doing all game long — she delivered. Messler's bases-loaded, two-out single to right brought home teammate China Wong from third base to complete a seventh-inning comeback for the Oyster River High School softball team to beat Seacoast rival Portsmouth, 6-5.

Mike Whaley

DURHAM — It was a big spot and Sara Messler did what she'd been doing all game long — she delivered. Messler's bases-loaded, two-out single to right brought home teammate China Wong from third base to complete a seventh-inning comeback for the Oyster River High School softball team to beat Seacoast rival Portsmouth, 6-5.

Down 5-3 heading into their last at-bat in Wednesday's Division II contest, OR (5-6) got its first two runners on base — Meaghan Campbell (single) and Cheyane Milano (error). But Portsmouth pitcher Sarah Jousset retired the next two batters on strikes and it looked like the Clippers (5-5) might just escape the jam.

No such luck.

Wong singled to load the bases and Lauren Sullivan followed with a hard smash that Portsmouth second baseman Phoebe Collins dived for and stopped. Prone, she threw to second for the game-ending force play, but the ball was dropped. All hands safe and a run in to close the lead to 5-4.

OR's No. 4 hitter Caitlyn Miller then hit a soft pop fly in front of shortstop that was not in the air long enough to catch. Portsmouth's Olivia Grant had no play, everyone was safe and Milano was home to tie the game up at 5-5.

That brought up Messler, who promptly hit her walk-off single to right to chase home Wong with the winning run. Messler went 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

"I definitely had the feeling we had the hits in us," Messler said. "We had to have focus and energy to get it. ...; I had confidence I was going to get a hit. The one I did hit was off the tip of the bat. It was in kind of a sweet spot but it went over past second base."

The win ended a 1-5 stretch for OR, which had included three straight losses.

"It was disappointing that we weren't able to hold it together," said Portsmouth coach Kim Grenon. "We need to come in solid and start off solid. I thought those early errors were more costly. We just couldn't close it."

The game was back and forth. OR took a 2-0 lead in the first on three Portsmouth errors and Messler's two-run single.

Portsmouth came back to tie it in the fourth on two Bobcat errors and RBI hits from Abby McDonough and Shannon Hatch. The Clippers pulled ahead 3-2 in the fifth when Maddy Ovadek singled, stole second and then scored on Brianna Croteau's base hit.

OR tied it up at 3-all in the sixth when Sullivan tripled to right-center with one out. After failing to score on Caitlyn Miller's deep fly ball to left, Messler saved the day with a two-out RBI single to right.

In the top of the seventh, the Clippers tacked on two runs to go up 5-3. Ovadek singled with two outs and scored all the way from first on a double by Collins when the relay throw from the outfield was mishandled. Croteau singled in Collins for the two-run lead.

In addition to Messler, Sullivan added two hits and two runs for the Bobcats, while Wong had a hit and two runs.

For Portsmouth, Ovadek was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs, while Croteau was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

"We weren't hitting that well at the beginning," said Ovadek. "We got up on it and starting hitting a lot. She was throwing a lot of (change-ups) at us and that was kind of messing with us. We were able to connect with some of them."

Lefty Caitlyn Miller earned the win for OR. She allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits, walked one and whiffed seven.

"We'd been in a bit of a funk, so it was big. It was huge. That was a big win," said OR coach Glen Miller. "That's definitely a big win against a really good team. ...; Today we started strong, went quiet and went strong at the end. Just in time."

Portsmouth's Jousset allowed six runs (one earned) on nine hits, struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

OR hosts Kingswood Friday, while the Clippers entertain Windham the same day.

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
seacoastonline.com ~ 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service